Piglet mortality in The Netherlands: goals not reached

After an important drop in 2010, piglet mortality rose again until reaching 13.6% in 2016.

Friday 1 February 2019 (21 days ago)

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Every year, more than 5 million piglets die in The Netherlands. For 10 years, the country has committed to reduce mortality, but in spite of the industry's efforts, piglet mortality seems to have increased even more, instead of dropping, according to the data published by the Department of Animal Welfare of the University of Van Hall Larenstein.

In 2009, the government considered reaching a progressive drop in piglet mortality. Initially, the Steering Committee set the goal of reducing mortality in 10 years in order to go from 12.8% in 2008 to 10.5% in 2019. Nevertheless, in 2016 the mortality rate grew, reaching 13.6%, although the more recent figures (2017) show a slight drop with respect to 2016, with 13.3% (more than 5,3 million piglets).